Wood County reporter. [volume] (Grand Rapids [i.e. Wisconsin Rapids], Wis.) 1857-1923, 1887-01-27
The Haunted Chamber.
BY THE DUCHESS"
rConcIuded.


Ethel, tGUtrsl paling 1T sath the hOr-
ror and Surprise corl5iCntd 10y the re-
cital, does not lose her possession.
i will go with yOu," she Volunteers
"But, let me say" she adds, Il think
you are wrong in making this search
without a man. Tiff indeed we are
still in time to be of any use to poor
Sir Adrian-alwayS suppOSing he really
is Secreted in that terrible rOOm-I do
not think any Of rs would be strong
enough to help him down the stairs,
and, if he has been slowly starving all
this time, think how weak he will bel"
ooh, what a Wretched picture you
conjure up!" eXclaimS Florence, nerv-
ously claSping her hands. But you
are right, and now tell me who you
think can best be depended upon in
this crisis"
II am sure" says Ethel, blushing
slightly, but speaking with intense
earneStneSs, "that, if you would not
mind trusting Captain Ringwood, he
would be both safe and useful"
AS this suggestion meets with ap-
prevail, they manage to convey a mes
sage to the captain, and in q very few
minutes he is with them, and is made
acquainted with their hopes and fears.
Silently, cautiously, without any
light, but carrying two small lamps
ready for ignition, they go down to the
corridor where is the door that leads to
the secret staircase.
Turning the handle of this door,
Captain RingWood discovers that it is
locked, but, nothing daunted, he pulls
it so violently backward and forward
that the lock, rusty with age, gives way
and leaves the passage beyond open to
them.
Going into the small landing at the
foot Of the staircase, they close the
door carefully after them, and then,
captain RingWood producing some
matches, they light the two lamps and
go swiftly, with anxiously beating
hearts, up the stairs.
The second door is reached, and now
nothing remains but to mount the last
flight of steps and open the fatal door.
Their hearts at this trying moment
almost fail them. They look into one
another'S blanched faces, and look
there in vain for hope. At last, Ring
wood, touching EtheEs arm, says, in a
Whisper
Come, have courage-all may yet be
WE'LL"
He moves toward the stone steps,
and they follow him. Quickly mount
ing them, he lays his hand upon the
door, and, afraid to give them any
more time for reflection or dread of
what may yet be in store for them,
throws it open.
At first the feeble light from their
lamps fails to penetrate the darkness
Of the gloomy apartment. AT the cur
sorry glance, such as they at first cast
round the room, it appears to be empty.
Their hearts sink within them. Have
they indeed hoped in vain!
Dora is crying bitterly; Ethel, with
her eyes fixed upon RingWOOd, is read
ing her own disappointment in his face,
when suddenly u piercing cry from
Florence wakes the echoes round them.
She has darted forward, and is kneel-
ing over something that even now is
barely diScernible to the others as they
come nearer to it. 1t looks like bun
die of clothes, but, as they stoOp over
it, they, too, can see that it is in reali-
ty a human body, and apparently rigid
in death.
But the shrek that has sprung from
the very soul of Florence has reached
some still living fbers in the brain of
this fOrlOrn creature. Slowly and with
difficulty he raises his head, and opens
q pair Of fast-glaZing eyes. Mechanic
ally his glance falls upon Florence.
His lips move; melancholy smile
struggles to show itself upon his parch-
ed and blackened lips.
Florence" he rather signs than says,
and falls back, to all appearance, dead.
"He is not dead!" cries Florence pas
sionately, He can not be! Oh, save
him, save him! Adrian, look up
speak to me. Oh, Adrian, make some
sign that you can hear mel"
But he makes no sign. His very
breath seems to have left him. Gath
ering him tenderly in her arms, Flor
ence presses his worn and wasted face
against her bosom, and pushes back
the hair from his forehead He is so
completely altered, SO thorough a
wreck has he become, that it is indeed
only the eyes Of love that could recOg-
niZe him. His cheeks have fallen in,
and deep hOlloWs show themselves.
His beard has grown, and is now
rough and stubbly; his hair is UNI
combed, the lines of want, despair, and
cruel starvation have blotted out all
the old fairness of his features. His
clothes are hanging loosely about him;
his hands, limp and nerveleSs, are ly
ing by his side. Who shall tell what
agony he has suffered during these past
lonely days with death-an awful,
creeping, gnawing death staring him
in the face?
A deadly silence has fallen upon the
little group now gazing sOlemnly down
uDOu LILO IOlSO 1OIIu I1OIC1CO.
ing him closely to her heart, is gently
rocking him to and fro, as though she
will not be dissuaded that he still lives.
At length Captain Ringwood, stoop-
ing pitifully over her, lOOsens her hold
SO far as to enable him to lay his hand
upon Sir Adrian's heart. After mo-
ment, during which they all watch him
closely, he starts, and, looking still
closer into the face that a second ago
he believed dead, he says, with sub
dued but deep excitement
There may yet be time He breathes
his heart beats! Who will help me to
carry him out of this dungeon?"
He shGdders as he glances round him.
Il will" replies Florence calmly.
These words of hope have steadied
her and braced her nerves. Ethel and
Mrs. Talbot, carrying the lamps, go on
before, while Ringwood and Florence,
having lifted the senselesS body of Adj
rian, now indeed sufficiently light to be
an easy burden, follow them.
Reaching the corridor, they cross it
hurriedly, and carrying Adrian up a
back staircase that leads to Captain